How to Handle Your Mistakes, Issue #33

It happens to all of us. As careful as we try to be, occasionally we make a mistake.

Of course, different mistakes have different consequences.?But I’ve found that if they are handled with thoughtfulness and sensitivity, mistakes can strengthen our client relationships.

Here’s an example of how I handled a mistake I recently made with one of my clients:

Each week, Pete sends me the text for his newsletter and a link to a recording of him reading it. Recently, I forgot to update the link, so the newsletter was linked to the prior recording.

Pete has a large email list; this mistake went out to over 4,000 readers. And I knew that a mistake of this type would bother him a great deal.

Here’s how I handled it:

First,?I took ownership of the mistake?once he drew my attention to it. I said, “Pete, I’m sorry that I made that mistake.”

Next,?I acknowledged how he felt about it.?I said, “I know how much you care about the details of your email newsletters.”

When I reflected on what had happened, I realized that I changed the sequence of how I did the work that day (vs. the other 50 times I’d done his newsletter). I had been interrupted midway through and had not gone back and reviewed everything from the beginning.

I remedied this for the future by creating a checklist of all the steps involved in creating Pete’s newsletter.?Then I told Pete about the checklist.

And, just for good measure, for the next several weeks, when I emailed Pete with a test of the newsletter, I also mentioned that I checked the link for the recording. I wanted to assure him that I cared.

If you make a mistake, own up to it, no matter how large or small.?Then see if you can put processes in place to avoid something similar in the future.?That makes you a better virtual assistant and builds trust with your clients.

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Belinda Sandor is the Founder of The VA Connection where she works with new, aspiring, and established Virtual Assistants to help them build thriving businesses through her free online community, courses, and coaching programs. You can learn more here: https://www.thevaconnection.com/?